The present invention relates to an article of clothing for protecting the upper body (including head, neck, and face) from radiation generated by the sun or other sources, and more specifically, to hats with sun shades.
The sun as an effective source of vitamin D is well established in the literature. However, it has also been established that too much sun can be detrimental to the health of human. Skin cancer is one of the adverse effects or disease cause by exposure to too much sun or other types of radiation. There are many types of skin cancers; but, it is believed, melanoma is the deadliest or most lethal. It is also believed to be the fastest growing type of cancer in the world. It is also believed that people with certain predisposed conditions make them more susceptible and put them at greater risk to develop skin cancer than others. For those people, even minimal exposure to the sun may result in developing skin cancer. Some predisposed conditions include genetics, fair skin, red or blonde hair, and light colored eyes. Another group of people that is susceptible are those recovering or recovered from the disease. Those people need to take special precaution to prevent recurrence. In order to minimize the risk of contacting a sun born disease, such as skin cancer, all people should limit exposure of their skin to sunlight.
There are several ways to protect one's skin from the sun. Probably, the simplest and straightforward way would be not to go into direct sunlight. This way appears impractical and unnecessarily limits one's activities to those that can be performed in shade or times when the sun is not shinning. This way would be most difficult for children who like to play and ride bicycles in daylight, when the sun is shinning. This way may also be difficult for and unacceptable to fishermen and fisherwomen who, by the nature of the sport, have to practice fishing in daylight, when the sun is shinning.
Another way to protect the skin from direct sunlight would be spending limited time in the sun. Even though limited time in the sun may be effective in protecting one's skin from direct sun light, it may not be suitable for people with predisposed conditions that make them vulnerable to develop skin cancer even with limited exposure to sun light. Still another way to protect the skin from direct sun light is to cover it with clothing. Stated another way, clothing may be used to protect the skin from deleterious effect of sun light. The clothing should be practical and does not restrict activities of the wearer. Clothing that meets these criteria and provides complete protection of the upper body could not be found and is deemed unavailable. The disclosed embodiment of the present invention, set forth below, meets these criteria and provides clothing that protects the entire upper body. As used in this document, clothing should be given broad interpretation including cap, hat or any type of garment used to cover the body of wearers.